Mockingbird mates tag-team baby-rearing duties

I have lived in central Phoenix in an old grapefruit grove for a little more than 40 years. A mockingbird has nested in the same grapefruit tree by the driveway for all this time. I'd guess it's not a 40-year-old bird, but the phenomenon seems remarkable to me. The thing that intrigues me most though is doves, pigeons, grackles, etc., are seen around here daily in pairs, but I don't recall ever seeing two mockingbirds at the same time. Is there something special about this species that causes this, or might I be missing something?

You're missing something.

For one thing, mockingbirds in the wild have a life expectancy of around eight years, although the oldest one on record was 14 years.

Mockingbirds are for the most part monogamous. The same mates hook up again every breeding season unless something happened to one of them over the winter.

So you could be seeing the same birds for many years in a row. And they are either returning to the same tree every year or maybe that tree is just considered prime mockingbird real estate.

Males take a very active role in raising the young, and the parents continue feeding their offspring for up to 21 days after they leave the nest.

Mockingbirds raise up to four broods a year with three or four eggs per hatch. Just after one brood hatches, the male sets to work on building a new nest. When the base is finished, the male returns to the young and the female finishes up the new nest.

So I'm thinking the reason you're not seeing two mockingbirds together is that you're not keeping the nest under 24-hour surveillance. One of the birds is probably off most of the time looking for food or working on the new nest.